Improvement in paper-feeding machines



, '1. LEASHLEY.

PAPER FEEDING MACHINE.

n v m a JMA LMV UNITED SfriurnsV "PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN T. ASHLEYfOFBROOKLYN, E. D., NEW YORK.

IMPROVEMENT IN PAPER-FEEDING MACHINES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. l 73,573, dated February 15, 1876; application filed october 29, 1870.

To `all whom it may concern Be it known that I, JOHN T. AsHLnY, of Brooklyn, E. D., in the county of Kings and State of New York, have invented a Feed- Board for supplying printing-presses, calenders, and ruling-machines with sheets-of pa per, one at a time; and I do hereby declare mthat the following is a full, clear, and exact paratus adapted to receive from such feeder one sheet of paper at a time, and to adjust the 4'same so as to place it in a proper position preparatory to its being taken by said printing-press or other machine. It may be used, also, tofacilitate hand-feeding. p l The nature vof my invention consists, first. in combining with an inclined or horizontal board or suitable frame a guide and one or more adjusting devices, adapted to receive and adjust sheets of paper, as will be hereinafter explained, second, 'in combining with guiding and adjusting devices a flattening and steadyi'ng device, as will be hereinafter eX- plained, third, in combining with these guiding and adjusting devices and this flatteningand steadying device a movable stop to temporarily arrest each sheet and bring the front edge of the same parallel to the gripers of a printing-press, as will be hereinafter explained. Before describing my invention, I will state that I have previously secured by Letters Patent, No. 107,851, in a paper-feeding machine, devices for adjusting sheetsl of paper in a pile, and therefore do not in my present application claim them.

The machine which. I have now invented. and will hereinafter explain, is not intended to pick up sheets of paper from a pile and feed them, but simply to receive and adjust them, one at a time, preparatory to their being taken by the machine to befed. To this.

end, the frame A of a paper-feeding machine is supplied with suitable supports, a, for sustaining the necessary adjusting devices. When the apparatus is used to facilitate handfeeding, it may be set upon the frame of the press; orif for ruling-machines, calenders,&c.,

then upon a suitable table.

In the accompanying drawing, Fig. l, A represents the frame of a paper-freding machine, the same being adapted to the picking up of sheets of paper from a pile and feeding them in a forward direction. B represents the cylinder of a printing-press. Between this cylinder and the frame of the feeder I arrange my apparatus for receiving and adjusting the sheets of paper put upon it. G represents aboard or'suitable frame, over whichV the sheets of paper are moved on their Way to the printing-press or other machine, which board or frame may be inclined or horizontal. 0n the opposite sides of this frame or board are ledges, c and c', one of which, c, is so arranged in relation to themachine to be fed as to serve as side guide to eachsheet of paper while being i'ed. This Aledge may be adjustable toward or from the opposite ledge, to adapt it to sheets of different widths. Rollers, D D, and endiess tapes, e, or their equivalents, as endless apron or a succession of rollers, are to move the sheet of paper diagonally and forward.- G is a device for securing extra adjustment against the front stop R.

At or near the edge of the board or frame C, next to thepaper-feeder, I employ a depressing device, W, pivoted at its ends, so as to allow of its being set at different angles with reference to the face of the said board or frame. This device may be aleat', or mayconsist of a set of bars placed longitudinally in the direction of the movement of the paper, and made movable, laterally, on a rod-extending across the machine.

The recesses u -n at the front of the feedboard are to let the gripersof a press take hold of the sheets of paper. R isa front stop, corresponding in its use to the ordinary front guides77 of printing-presses. I coilnect it withmy feeding apparatus, in order that said apparatus may be complete in itself in construction and action, and free from de.

receive their action from pendencc upon the co-operation of any outside means for accomplishing the desired end. This stop is a narrow strip, arranged across the front of the feed-board, and made to rest against its end. Itis secured to a piece, S, and this is pivoted to the lever I, the fulcrum of which is at g. The piece S is held against a check, t, by means of a spring, d. This springl causes the inside face ofthe stop, when down, to keep closev to the edge, against which it rests, while the check prevents its being drawn so far in as not to slide over said edge when lowered. The clamp P is a suitable strip parallel with, and in the rear of, the stop It. lt is operated by the lever H, the fulcrum of which is also at g. The use of this clamp is twofold-first, to press out any buckle that may be in the front of the sheet, and next, while holding thesheet fiat, to steadyit until taken by the gripers of the press.

Both of these devices-the stop and clam pa shaft having its bearings upon the frame A. These two parts of my invention apply particularly to printingpresses, and, in this connection, are of' much account.

The operation of this invention may be described as follows: Upon the sheets of paper being deposited, one at a time, upon the feedboard, they are, each in its turn, moved diagonally by means of the devices described.

To feed light or small sheets 'of paper, the rollers and bandsor apron, or a succession of rollers, will answer; butif the sheets are heavy, as in the case of card-board, then the upper j 'rictional devices Gr may be used, with the 10W- er means of motion, and in this way act on both sides of the sheet at once. By the diagonal movement ot' the sheet the side edge is brought against the side stop cf, and the front edge against the front stop R.

Upon the sheet being brought into proper rectangular position, the clamp P descends upon its front and presses this part of it dat, and holds it steady until the gripers of the press takeit. At the lmoment the gripers act, the

stop and clamp rise and release the sheet, to allow of its being carried by the cylinder. When this feed-board is applied to vother machines than printing-presses, such as ruling-machines, calenders, &c., where the feed is to be rapid and as continuous as possible, the stop R and clamp P are not used. In such case the sheets of paper are borne diagonally to the side stop, when, as they can gono farther in that direction, they continue to move forward into the machine beingfed,and are caused to enter said machine in a line with the side stop.

Sheets are oi'ten out ot' square, and as it is important to have the front edge of each sheet parallel to the gripers of the press, the device G is intended to make a final adjustment of the front edge of the sheet against the front stop, in case, through want of squareness, it should be drawn away, in course of finding its bearing against the sidestep.

When feeding rapidly, or in a current of air, the device W lnay bevused with advantage to depress the sheets of paper toward the face of the feed-board while in the act ot' being fed from the paper-feeding machine.

Having described my invention, what lI claim as new ist l. The diagonal feeding-bed, as described, in combination with a side stop, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

' 2. The front stop R hung upon the feedboard C, so as to descend below the surface and in front of said board, and to rise above the same, in combination with the pressing andl smoothing device P, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

3. The adjusting device Gin combination with the adjustable stop R hung on feed-board C, substantially as and for the purpose described.

4. The adjustable pressing and smoothing device P in combination with the feed-board G, substantially as and for the purpose de-l scribed.

JOHN THOS. ASHLEY.

Witnesses: v

EDM. F. BROWN, J. N. CAMPBELL. 

